March 11 -- Anadarko Petroleum Corp. Executive Chairman Jim Hackett plans to attend Harvard Divinity School following his retirement from a company he led through acquisitions and an oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

Hackett, 59, wants to become better prepared to write, speak and teach about faith and leadership, John Christiansen, a spokesman for The Woodlands, Texas-based Anadarko said in an e- mail today.

Hackett turned his CEO duties over to Al Walker after the annual meeting in May 2012. Anadarko said last month that Walker will become chairman at the end of the annual meeting on May 14. Hackett, as previously announced, will serve as executive chairman until then, and he will retire from Anadarko in June of this year.

Pursuing faith and leadership "has been a long-held interest of Jim’s and one of the key reasons he is retiring from Anadarko, a company for which he has great affection and which continues to be led by an outstanding executive team," Christiansen said today.

Hackett holds a bachelor of science degree from the University of Illinois and a master of business administration from Harvard University, according to the company’s website.

Harvard Divinity

Harvard Divinity School was established in 1816 as the first nonsectarian theological institution in the U.S., according to the school’s website. The school has students with approximately 30 religious affiliations and awards masters and doctoral degrees.

Anadarko didn’t specify whether Hackett would be seeking a degree at the school.

Hackett took over as CEO in December 2003, helping to transform it from a company with missed production targets to one known for projects off the coast of Africa, in the Gulf of Mexico and onshore in the U.S. Anadarko is the second-largest U.S. independent oil and natural gas producer by market value behind ConocoPhillips, meaning it doesn’t have refineries or a chemical unit.

His tenure included the acqusitions of Kerr-McGee Corp. and Western Gas Resources Inc., which were first announced in 2006. Hackett also led the company after BP Plc’s 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Anadarko had a 25 percent stake in the Macondo well, and it eventually paid BP $4 billion as part of a settlement.